Holding In your Marijuana Hits? Does it make a Difference?

We always debated whether or not holding in a hit of marijuana longer would make you higher growing up, and we didn’t have the internet to research things. Over the years cannabis has been said to be as harmful as tobacco smoke, but it’s only a sad attempt to deter people from smoking. This lie has prevented a bunch of people from taking their first puff, but numerous studies over the last few years have shown encouraging results. Everyone’s arguments were usually based upon ‘a guy they heard it from’ which is not exactly a good source. These days we have the internet to shed more light on the subject.

The lungs can transfer gas in very small quantities at the nanosecond level. It occurs almost instantly. According to some sources, 95% of all possible THC is absorbed near instantly upon inhale.

If you hold in your toke, you may feel it hits you stronger, but what is really going on is you are depriving oxygen content to your brain. Any effect felt from holding hits in is sadly a result of depriving your brain of oxygen. When your brain is without oxygen, it kills brain cells and leaves you feeling very light headed. Although it can be easy to mix up these effects with the high from cannabis, it’s not the power of the plant that you’re feeling. To prevent yourself from losing brain cells while smoking, try exhaling after five seconds instead of double or triple that. This way, you’ll breathe easier and your brain will only feel the effects from cannabis, and not oxygen deprivation.

According to Steve Liebke’s 2001 ‘A Cannabis User’s Harm Reduction Handbook,’ “Take small, shallow tokes or pulls. About 95% of THC in cannabis smoke is absorbed in the first few seconds so breath holding is quite pointless. All it really achieves is a far greater amount of tar being deposited in the lungs.”

Consider vaping and dabbing concentrates. These are the least harmful methods of inhaling THC and other cannabinoids. As there is no combustion happening, you will not breathe in carbon monoxide, tar, and other toxins. If you want to get extra high, the answer is pretty straightforward. Smoke more weed. Or smoke stronger strains, or even consider concentrates. If you really want to achieve new levels of psychotropic euphoria, try edibles. But be aware; they will hit you in different ways, and are often quite strong.